Starting With the Dictionary

Whenever I am about to write an essay, I like to look up words in the prompt and see if I can draw any connections between them. It often gives me a good starting point. So that's what I did with the name of this seminar. I looked at the dictionary definitions of the key words in this seminar: literature, dreams, and life, and attempted to see how they relate to each other and what we've discussed thus far. 

Many words had several definitions, I chose to copy here which ones I thought most interesting. I encourage you to look them up and see them in full. (Taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com)

     Literature

1. writings in prose or verse; especially : writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest (2) : an example of such writings

Dream

1. a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep — compare rem sleep
2. an experience of waking life having the characteristics of a dream: as
3. a visionary creation of the imagination : daydream
4. a state of mind marked by abstraction or release from reality : reverie
5. something notable for its beauty, excellence, or enjoyable quality
6. something that fully satisfies a wish : ideal <a meal that was a gourmet's dream>

Life

1. a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings 
2. the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual
3. spiritual existence transcending physical death
4. an opportunity for continued viability

In class, Mr. Sexson told us that "beauty triumphs depression."  My immediate reaction was to think: but can't there be something to be learnt from bleak and disgusting things, or do we choose not to remember them? If you think back on your life, do you remember more bleak or beautiful events, places, people, etc.? Is this was Mr. Sexson means? When I look back, I definitely remember more beautiful things. In the 5th definition of dream, it talks about beauty again, yet in many of the dreams described in class, they were not what you would call "beautiful" (unless you think massive bears, Nicholas Cage, charging walruses, spiders, and getting stung by a bee as beautiful--which maybe you do, I won't judge). Yet these perhaps "scary" or "ugly" dreams are ingrained in our minds. 

I very much enjoyed the second and third definition of life, mostly because it they include mental and spiritual experiences into a definition of life. If I were given the task of writing a definition for life, I would not have thought to include those. Dreams relate perfectly into this, they are definitely a mental and spiritual experience,  so very much a part of life. What if you went up to someone on the street and asked them to describe their life's greatest experiences? Do you think many would tell you about a dream they had? 

And lastly, literature. From what I have gathered so far, I see literature as a connecting piece for dreams, life, and memory.